Deutsche Bahn has started the first works for a new freight railway along the A5 motorway in the Rhine Valley.
What it means: DB is beginning the physical build-out of a dedicated freight route on one of Europe’s main north–south rail corridors. The new tracks are intended to move freight traffic away from the existing Rhine Valley Railway through towns and free capacity for passenger services on the current line.
The first works are not yet tracklaying. DB is starting with bridges and preparatory structures, including crossings over the Feuerbach near Teningen-Nimburg. These structures are needed because the future freight line will run in parallel with the A5 motorway and cross local roads, waterways and existing infrastructure.
The Riegel–March section is part of the wider four-track expansion of the Karlsruhe–Basel corridor. The project adds two tracks to the existing Rhine Valley route, with freight and passenger flows separated where possible. DB describes the Karlsruhe–Basel line as the German section of the Rhine-Alpine axis between Rotterdam and Genoa.
For rail freight operators, the practical point is capacity. The Karlsruhe–Basel corridor is a bottleneck on the route from North Sea ports through Germany and Switzerland to northern Italy. The new freight alignment is meant to allow more freight trains to run without competing as directly with regional and long-distance passenger services.
The wider Karlsruhe–Basel programme is planned for completion in stages. DB’s project information says the new-build works are to be completed by 2035, while the full corridor upgrade includes modernisation of stations and stops, tunnels, a freight bypass around Freiburg and future speeds of up to 250 km/h on passenger sections.
